1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to automotive vehicles and equipment therefor. More particularly, the present invention pertains to roof assemblies for automotive vehicles. Even more particularly, the present invention pertains to hatch-type roof panels for automotive vehicles.
2. Prior Art
Due to Federal safety regulations the "convertible"--type automobile has disappeared from the market. To compensate for this segment of the market as well as to provide an effect to the driver similar to that of the convertible many alternatives have been proposed.
Initially, many small sport cars were provided with "pop-off" roofs. This, however, is not feasible for installation in full size automobiles. In the early 1960's there was commercially developed for such full size cars a concept commonly referred to as a sunroof. A sunroof, as is known to the skilled artisan, nominally comprises a metallic panel mounted in the roof of a vehicle which is either manually or mechanically driven or moved between an open and a closed position. The panel which is slidably mounted from front or rear in the vehicle stores in a compartment formed by an interiorly mounted sub-roof and the roof of the vehicle when in an open mode. The open mode provides an opening in the roof to permit exposure for the vehicle passengers to the environment. The closed mode closes and seals off the opening. Again, as is known to the skilled artisan the sunroof has met with great success.
Subsequent to the sunroof development a further innovation introduced to the market was the "moonroof." The moonroof replaced the sunroof metallic panel with a translucent glass or synthetic resinous panel. The moonroof, because of its translucent panel permitting viewing of the environment, has enjoyed phenomenal success. In order to accommodate different segments of the market many types of moonroofs are available. For example, the detachably mounted moonroof, the manually slidable moonroof as well as the mechanically driven moonroof are all commonplace.
Today, there is an even further advance in the market, i.e. the "hatch roof." The hatch roof, as is presently known, comprises a pair of analogous translucent roof panels having their inboard ends affixed to a T-bar section of the roof and their outboard ends attached to the sides of the roof of the vehicle such that the outboard ends are contiguous with the roof structure. Such hatch roofs are manually operated and detachably mounted on the roof. Because of sealing and storage problems heretofore encountered hatch roofs have always been available only in a manually operable state. The present invention on the other hand, and as will subsequently be detailed, provides a mechanically operated hatch roof system.